Just because he’s holding his famous JMP Event at Just for Laughs for two nights doesn’t mean Jean-Marc Parent is going to stay at home fretting. The marathon runner of humor spent part of the last week crisscrossing Quebec with his RV, a way for him to recharge his batteries before climbing on stage at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, this Saturday and Sunday.
“I can’t say I’m super relaxed, but anyway, my head is going 100 miles an hour all year round,” the comedian says on the phone. “I do JMP Event parties for fun. The important thing is that the 3200 people present each evening have a great evening, that they are captivated. To tell the truth, when the shows aren’t filmed for TV, I don’t get nervous! It’s just fun for me! »
For the 12th time as part of these Events that bear his initials, the 61-year-old comedian will thread the anecdotes for “at least three or three and a half hours”. If the spectators are in the dark as to the time of their exit from the room, the comedian is in the same state: “I never really know in advance the duration of the show. I don’t worry about it anymore. But I’m no longer old enough to be on stage 24 hours straight! »
The largely improvised shows will be spiced up with performances by guest artists: singer Nadja and comedian Eddy King in this case.
In short, the very basis of the party that remains the JMP Event will not change. The difference will come rather from the anecdotes told. In particular, a situation that happened to him last April, when he was going to pick up his assistant at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “It was in the middle of a storm, the street was flooded and I, like a real ti-coq, thought I could get through!” I managed to sink the truck and found myself swimming among the snakes. They weren’t boas or anacondas, but they were gross nonetheless! I flipped for real! I really wondered what I was doing there…”
This misadventure will occupy a good part of his show. “I realized that I had a good number when I told this story around me and everyone was cramped! »
Other of his favorite subjects will be discussed: age (the comedian still can’t believe he has reached his venerable age), travel, health…
His has also caused him some concern recently: he had to postpone two shows – one in Brossard, the other in Val-d’Or – due to the “painful” passage of his 27th career kidney stone. For the rest, he says, everything is fine. And as long as he is healthy, Jean-Marc Parent intends to continue working.
In November, he will finish touring his most recent show, Utopia. Next summer will be devoted to performances at a dozen festivals in the province. A new show will follow in 2025, which will take a different form from that of the previous ones. “Utopia will be my last scripted and completely placed show. For the next one, I want to present a mix of what I have done in the past. I can tell a story that is 20 years old, but I will have a new perspective on it. There will be more room for improvisation. »
If he is not against the idea of slowing down a bit, he does not want to consider a complete retirement. “I would spend too much time looking at myself. I don’t want my head to stop…even my doctors tell me! »
For the rest, his summer promises to be quite pleasant: “A lot of RV camping, a lot of motorcycling, meals with friends, BBQs. Nothing complicated. »
What pleasure, in short. Exactly like diving without a net in front of 3200 spectators in a crowded Place des Arts!
